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    All-Star Comics #37
    Retro Review

    Retro Review: All-Star Comics #37 (October/November 1947)

    Matthew PetersonBy Matthew PetersonJune 21, 2020Updated:June 21, 20203 Comments4 Mins Read

    They’re all over CW TV in ‘Stargirl’, but do YOU know the Injustice Society of the World?  Your Major Spoilers (Retro) Review of All-Star Comics #37 awaits!

    ALL-STAR COMICS #37

    Writer: Robert Kanigher
    Penciler: Irwin Hasen/Joe Kubert/Carmine Infantino/Alex Toth
    Inker: John Belfi/Joe Kubert/Carmine Infantino/Alex Toth
    Colorist: Uncredited
    Letterer: Uncredited
    Editor: Sheldon Mayer
    PublisheNational Comics Publications (DC Comics)
    Cover Price: 10 Cents
    Current Near-Mint Pricing: $2800.00

    Previously in All-Star Comics:  As the first super-team in comics, the Justice Society broke a lot of ground.  But once you’ve created a coaltion of good superhumans, it’s only natural that there be an equal and opposite reaction among the villain community.  The players were among the most dangerous creeps that the DC Universe had to offer, circa 1947: Criminal magician W.I. Zard, known known to his victims as The Wizard!  Mob boss Clifford DeVoe, mortal enemy of The Flash, known as The Thinker!  The time-traveling butt-monkey called Per Degaton!  Immortal madman Vandal Savage!  Green Lantern’s foe and Colonel Sanders impersonator, The Gambler!  The telepathic tyrant called Brain Wave!  Together, they form a cabal of evil the likes of which have never been seen, one-upping the JSA as The Injustice Society… of THE WORLD.

    Aftter being invited to a special radio program in their honor, the JSA is stunned to find the announcer, crusading attorney Carlton Swain, denouncing them and the very concept of justice itself.  Swain opens fire on the JSAers, who (thanks to Wonder Woman’s bracelets) are unharmd by the assault.  Returning to their headquarters to regroup, the team hears of multiple jailbreaks across the country, while some careful detective work by Dr. Mid-Nite reveals that Swain is working for a mysterious Injustice Society of the World who wants to defeat them and take over the United States.  As is their custom, they split up to find their opposite numbers, unaware that the clues are actually just a trap!

    In quick succession, Vandal Savage makes good on his promise to cpature Hawkman, though the Winged Wonder avails himself well against a horde of prisoners, then Flash saves a governor from assassination, only to be lured into invisible shackles by The Thinker, while Green Lantern manages to protect a batallion of tanks from the powers of Brain Wave, only to fall prey to the old boomerang routine and falling down a dmountain to his doom.  Then comes the most shocking moment of the entire issue, a moment that always sticks out in my memory of these Golden Age books…  I call it “The Time The Atom Looked Amazing!”

    All-Star Comics #37

    That’s the work of a young Alex Toth (creator of Space Ghost, the Herculoids and more, and one of the tragically underappreciated artists of comics) there, showing us an Al Pratt who loked lithe and cool and super-heroic, taking down an enemy agent posing as a U.S. Army general, then wading into the combined Injustice Society without hesitation.  He, too, gets captured, as does Doctor Mid-Nite, after engaging Per Degaton.

    All-Star Comics #37

    Mid-Nite awakens in a holding cell with his teammates (including Wonder Woman and Johnny Thunder, who were sidelined at the beginning of the adventure, but captured by Per Degaton), who combine their wits and powers to escape, only to find that it’s another trap-within-a-trap, as the Injustice Society puts them on trial, with a jury full of criminals and super-villains.  As the judge renders his verdict, Brain Wave suddenly recognizes his voice… as Green Lantern!  The heroes leap into action, with Wonder Woman taking down nearly the entire Injustice Society with one powerful attack, making the JSA seem like idiots for back-benching her, while the rest of the team takes on The Wizard, their strange new leader.

    All-Star Comics #37

    With the heroes focusing on the escaped convicts, the capture of Mr. Zard is left to the kids of the Junior Justice Society of America (the real-world fan club for All-Star Comics and the JSA), who brtng him down with sticks, rocks and sheer gumption.  It’s an ignominious end for him, but he and his Injustice Society will return multiple time to vex the JSA and even their children.  All-Star Comics #37 is a mixed bag, artistically, with good work from Kubert and Hasen, less great work from Infantino and AMAZING art by Toth combining with a strong Kanigher plot to make for a memorable issue and 3.5 out of 5 stars overall.  If nothing else, it’s a fun little issue that draws you in, even as it makes you wonder why the most powerful JSAers had to sit back at the mansion and play pinochle.


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    ALL-STAR COMICS #37

    73%
    73%
    Fun Stuff

    Even if you hate the silliness of things like W.I. Zard, this issue will draw you in, especially the Toth-drawn portions, and entertain you, Golden Age Style.

    • Writing
      8
    • Art
      7
    • Coloring
      7
    • User Ratings (0 Votes)
      0
    Alex Toth All-Star Comics Carmine INfantino dc comics Dr. Mid-Nite Green Lantern Hawkman Injustice Society Irwin Hasen Joe Kubert John Belfi Johnny Thunder Justice Society of America Retro Review Review robert kanigher the atom The Flash Wonder Woman
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    Matthew Peterson
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    Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.

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    3 Comments

    1. Robert Hulshof-Schmidt on June 21, 2020 2:20 pm

      Thanks for the fun trip down memory lane. This was one of my earliest JSA memories from a reprint in a 1973 100-pager (also featuring Queen Bee and the Royal Flush Gang!!). I’ve been thinking about this ISW as I’ve watched Stargirl, too.

      Reply
    2. J. Bencomo on June 24, 2020 7:39 pm

      Brain Wave looks astonishly like Dr. Sivana here. I’m not familiar with the character, was that supposed to be intentional? Like, at that point Sivana was almost as popular as Captain Marvel himself, so did they copy the character design even while having the galls to accuse Fawcett of riping Superman off?

      Reply
      • Matthew Peterson on June 25, 2020 5:34 pm

        Possibly. Sivana first appeared in 1940 and was a big part of Captain Marvel’s adventures, with Brainwave appearing in ’43. It may also have been a take on the “thick glasses egghead” archetype seen in cartoons and comics of the era.

        Reply

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